Saturday, January 30, 2016

Epic Wanderer

Epic Wanderer: David Thompson and
the Mapping of the Canadian West, by D’Arcy Jenish (pub. by the University of
Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2003, 293pp. plus index and bibliography)

As a fur trader, explorer,
surveyor, artist, mapmaker, and an entrepreneur, who spent 28-years in the
Canadian wilds, David Thompson did as much for Canada as anyone else we can
name, and yet, he died penniless and obscure in 1857, being unknown to the
public until the “David Thompson’s Narrative” was published in 1916. Thompson's story began after he left a school for
the poor in London at the age of 14, and sailed in May, 1784, for Churchill Factory,
Hudson’s Bay, to work as an apprentice in the fur trade.

Thompson quickly became known to
Hudson Bay Company partners for his meticulous work ethic, mathematical skills,
and navigational abilities. His thirst
for exploration and travel was something they were happy to satisfy, as he
traveled all over Canada, recorded the magnetic heading of every stream, did
celestial observations to record the exact location of every bend, island,
cliff, rapids, falls, and transformed all this information into the best maps
of the time. His maps were created on
huge paper sheets that would cover entire walls. Plans for establishing forts, trading posts, and
seek natural resources were all based on
his maps by those both in Canada, the U.S., and back in London. He established the boundary between Canada
and the United States. Also, Thompson
had traveled more than any other man.
Only three other expeditions had been led to the Pacific, those by Simon
Fraser and Alexander Mackenzie in Canada, and Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark in the United States, but Thompson had traveling more than any other man,
covering over 50,000 miles. He also kept
extensive journals on both his work and all of his adventures. This book is taken from those journals, and
will give you as precise an understanding of the man and the young and
previously unknown country as you will find anywhere.